Apple And Search: Now Is Google A Monopoly?

With all the talk about Google being a monopoly, the company is probably glad (at least partially) to see Apple make some search-related announcements during its WWDC keynote, which could help the argument in Google’s favor (even if hurting its market share).

Last year, Apple made a huge impression on society with Siri. Now, they’ve made some improvements to it. With iOS 6, Apple’s forthcoming operating system due out this fall, Siri will likely take a significant chunk of search market share for things like sports, restaurants and movies, even while Google is .

“Ask Siri about sports scores and stats, where to eat, what movies to see — even ask to make Facebook posts,” Apple says on its website. “Siri understands more languages and works in more countries. So you can get more things done in more places around the world. And most exciting of all, with Siri on the new iPad, on more devices, too.”

On sports, Apple says, “Siri knows baseball, basketball, football, soccer, and hockey. Ask Siri for game schedules, scores from the current season’s games, or up-to-the minute scores from live games. Tell Siri to show you player stats and compare them against other players’ stats. Siri tracks team records, too, so you’ll always know how well your team is doing (or not doing). Siri is even smart enough to know whether you’re asking about the New York Giants or the San Francisco Giants, based on where you are.”

On movies, Apple says, “Siri can help you find the latest flicks by location or showtimes. Can’t decide? Ask Siri to show you a movie trailer or a Rotten Tomatoes review. Siri is also quite the film buff: Find out when a film premiered, who directed it, and what awards it won. Or ask Siri which movies your favorite actors star in, so you won’t miss any of their past or future blockbusters.”

Finally, on restaurants, Apple says, “With Siri you now have a personal restaurant concierge. Ask to find restaurants by cuisine, price, location, outdoor seating, or a combination of choices. Siri will show you a restaurant’s photos, Yelp stars, price range, and reviews. When you find a place you like, ask Siri to make a reservation through the OpenTable app.”

How many iOS users will be turning to Siri before Google for a lot of this stuff? Apple says it has sold 365 million iOS devices sold as of March.

With new Facebook integration mentioned above, Siri is only giving users more reasons to use it. The more people use it, the more they’ll likely use it for more things. Speaking of using it for more things, iOS 6 users will also be able to ask Siri to open apps. Apple is even working with car manufacturers on integrating Siri into voice control systems, with voice command buttons on steering wheels. I wonder if Google’s self-driving cars will come with voice search.